


as tall as a sunflower.

by curlyhairedgirl



Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Character Study, College, Comfort, Cute, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Feels, Fluff, Hope, Hopeful Ending, I Tried, I mean I really did, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, M/M, Painter!Carlos Reyes, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Slice of Life, Sort Of, Tarlos is roomates, and they were roomates, enjoy i guess?, i honestly don't know what this is, oh my god they were roomates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28319154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curlyhairedgirl/pseuds/curlyhairedgirl
Summary: "You, are like a sunflower", Carlos broke the mutual silence that has been flying around them the past 2 hours, "whatever people do to you, you always grow taller and reach for the sun." TK didn't answer.*A Slice of life fic, sort of, tallking about growth. Again, sort of.
Relationships: Carlos Reyes/TK Strand
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17
Collections: 911 Gift Exchange 2020





	as tall as a sunflower.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lullabyforstrings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lullabyforstrings/gifts).



> [Sunflower by Harry Styles.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUUElxEGo0U&ab_channel=HarryStylesVEVO)
> 
> This is my gift exchange for Emily ( [@straightoutoffuckstogive](https://straightoutoffuckstogive.tumblr.com/) )! Happy holidays Emily and Merry Christmas! I hope you enjoy this lil fic I prepared for you!

Pale porcelain skin. For many, it is indeed a wonderful spectacle. Shining when the beam of light is touching it, like a slick sheet is brushing lightly your bare skin. His green eyes and brownish hair, the perfect combination, contrasting with it. If you asked someone, he was the perfect example of a beautiful, made porcelain doll. What happens, however, if somehow the perfect doll broke, either intentionally or not? What happens when the first crack hits, then the second, then more cracks keep appearing? TK knew that very well, the moment his soon to be fiancé informed him he had been cheating on him. Was TK really that blind? Or maybe, he chose to be blind, for the sake of his sanity. Maybe he did not want to believe his relationship had problems in the first place. _Was he the reason they ended up like this, in the first place?_

People start looking down to the doll; "It doesn't have the same value. Come on, look at it, so broken and fragile. One wrong move and it can brake into pieces again. Maybe worse. Maybe it will shatter and won't be fixable again. Most importantly, how can you love something so broken? With flaws?" Carlos didn't even blink once to those accusations, when he first met TK. As an art major himself, how can he ignore such piece of art; "It is indeed sad watching something break. It won't be the same as you put it back together. His cracks will still be visible, maybe it won't even be fixable again. However, with effort, you can make something new and more beautiful, out of it. The only thing you need, is will".

"Would you let me paint your back, please?" Carlos told him one day. Jeremy didn't blink once when he saw the (interior) scars decorating TK's perfect pale skin. When he first heard him, he thought he was insane but, he noded anyways. Who was he to try and deny Carlos Reyes, sun-kissed brown skin, brown curly hair, brown eyes. Thus, the next few hours have found them with TK laying on his stomach, half naked with only a pair of black sweatpants, Carlos next to him tracing lightly TK's pre painted body with his fingers, TK shivering under the soft touch. Eventually soft paintbrushes started touching his back, tickling his skin, leaving behind traces of cold paint. "You, are like a sunflower", Carlos broke the mutual silence that has been flying around them the past 2 hours, "whatever people do to you, you always grow taller and reach for the sun." TK didn't answer.

TK, after a while, felt the paintbrush leaving his skin slowly, "I'm done, by the way, if you want to take a look at it." TK starts to stand up, carefully afraid he might ruin the piece, Carlos starting cleaning the mess he made while he made his way to the bathroom. TK finds a mirror and watches his back with precision, his scars now gone, under some big stems, sunflowers blooming all brightly on top of his back.

Maybe, just maybe rooming with Carlos in college isn't so bad after all, and maybe, _just maybe_ , one day, TK will learn to love his body and himself, once again.

**Author's Note:**

> If you asked me, honestly, I don't know what this is. I don't know if it even makes sense. Let's say, it a bit out pf context? I mean, I tried, but, I haven't written anything in a long time. I'm proud of this, at least that's a first, for sure. Anyways, Merry christmas everyone! <3 
> 
> Come and yell at me or whatever you'd like on [tumblr!](https://curliehairedgirl.tumblr.com/)


End file.
